Southbank Sustainability Group

08 Apr 2020

COVID-19 has certainly impacted our lives and the community on every level. With self-isolation and physical distancing in place, it challenges our everyday life and more.

However, even though we physically distance ourselves, it’s beautiful to see the global comradery it has bred and the humanity it is bringing out in all of us.

Community is a big part of our group. Catching up and getting to know each other’s point of view over coffee, is what makes our group a community. It’s what brought on so many successes for our group, a driving force. While we can’t physically meet right now, it’s great to see the group’s spirit and sense of community stronger than ever! While we miss seeing each other, we’re chatting online, calling, texting, emailing, checking in with each other and getting on with whatever work we can do in the background.

While all our activities - like educational days or our Melbourne Knowledge Week session - are postponed, there’s still plenty of work to do behind the scenes organising the garden and for the new community composting hub we’re creating. If you’re at home, with a bit of an interest in the environment, looking for something productive to do while giving back to the community, message us on email or Facebook to learn how you can help. Help is always welcome and no particular experience is required.

We also need watering and gardening volunteers for the next two to three months. Since we can’t maintain our popular gardening meetups, there will be more garden work to split between more people, done a little at a time. As council confirmed, gardening is considered an exercise activity, being outdoors with lots of space for two people to work in different garden beds more than 1.5 metres apart. It’s a good opportunity to exercise while keeping safe and getting to interact with nature. We have a sign-up roster to ensure we don’t exceed the two people limit, that safety measures are taken. No gardening experience needed, if you are interested in getting involved.

While we all spend more quality time at home over the next few months, we hopefully all get to appreciate the down time, nurturing ourselves, taking care of our physical and mental wellbeing, catching up on things that bring us pleasure but which daily routine usually pushes aside. If one of your wish list projects is to create or expand your home herb garden and are looking for a couple of seedlings to get you started while wanting to keep social distancing, get in touch. We can leave a couple out for you to pick up.

About the group: A solutions-focused group of Southbank residents working to bring positive change in sustainability practices and education to our neighbourhood, while building a wonderful community of like-minded people. 2019 Environment Melbourne Award winner